RALEIGH, N.C. – Today the North Carolina House of Representatives approved S.B. 353, a motorcycle safety bill that was rewritten to be one of the nation’s most sweeping proposals to limit access to reproductive health care. It now heads to the Senate.

Sarah Preston, policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, released the following statement:

“It is extremely disappointing that House members have approved such sweeping restrictions on women’s health care options just one day after this proposal was unveiled to the public. This legislation is not designed to protect women’s health; it is designed to shut down clinics and restrict access to comprehensive and often lifesaving health care, pure and simple. A woman’s decision whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term is not only extremely personal but also constitutionally protected. However, that private, constitutionally protected choice is rendered meaningless if women in North Carolina are prevented from having safe access to abortion care, as this bill would do for countless women across our state.”